DIX HILLS, N.Y. - A multimillion-dollar home at the center of a bitter dispute between 50 Cent and the mother of his son was destroyed by a suspicious fire early Friday.
Six people, including 50's ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins and their 10-year-old son, Marquis, were taken to a hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and later released. A firefighter also suffered a minor eye injury, officials said.
50, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, doesn't live in the home and wasn't there at the time.
"Informed this morning while filming a new motion picture on location in Louisiana, Curtis Jackson expressed deep concern over this fire at his property," a representative for 50 said in a statement. "He is extremely thankful that everyone including his son, Marquise, escaped the burning house safely. He is confident that authorities will be conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and is eager to review their findings."
The home was essentially burned to the ground, with charred embers and wreckage littering the lot where the home once stood in the tree-lined neighborhood in Dix Hills.
Investigators from the Suffolk County arson squad were called to the scene after Dix Hills Fire Chief Larry Feld deemed the blaze suspicious. The fire was reported at 4:59 a.m. and was extinguished about 45 minutes later, Feld said. The arson squad had finished its work at the scene six hours after the blaze.
He referred the case to the arson squad "because of the intensity of the fire, and also being that who belongs to the house."
Police said the victims included the rapper's former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins and two of her children, including a son fathered by 50 Cent named Marquise. Three other adults in the home weren't immediately identified.
A passing off-duty police officer helped rescue the six people off an elevated deck in the home's backyard, Feld said.
The home has been the subject of an intense feud between 50 and Tompkins.
